For
Immediate Release
June 13, 2007
|
Washington
D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
|
Over 1 Million Potential Victims of Botnet Cyber Crime
Today the Department of Justice and FBI announced the
results of an ongoing cyber crime initiative to disrupt
and dismantle “botherders” and elevate the
public’s cyber security awareness of botnets. OPERATION
BOT ROAST is a national initiative and ongoing investigations
have identified over 1 million victim computer IP addresses.
The FBI is working with our industry partners, including
the CERT Coordination Center
at Carnegie Mellon University, to notify the victim owners
of the computers. Through this process the FBI may uncover
additional incidents in which botnets have been used to
facilitate other criminal activity.
A botnet is a collection of compromised computers under
the remote command and control of a criminal “botherder.” Most
owners of the compromised computers are unknowing and unwitting
victims. They have unintentionally allowed unauthorized
access and use of their computers as a vehicle to facilitate
other crimes, such as identity theft, denial of service
attacks, phishing, click fraud, and the mass distribution
of spam and spyware. Because of their widely distributed
capabilities, botnets are a growing threat to national
security, the national information infrastructure, and
the economy.
“The majority of victims are not even aware that
their computer has been compromised or their personal information
exploited,” said FBI Assistant Director for the Cyber
Division James Finch. “An attacker gains control
by infecting the computer with a virus or other malicious
code and the computer continues to operate normally. Citizens
can protect themselves from botnets and the associated
schemes by practicing strong computer security habits to
reduce the risk that your computer will be compromised.”
The FBI also wants to thank our industry partners, such
as the Microsoft Corporation and the Botnet Task Force,
in referring criminal botnet activity to law enforcement.
Cyber security tips include updating anti‑virus
software, installing a firewall, using strong passwords,
practicing good email and web security practices. Although
this will not necessarily identify or remove a botnet currently
on the system, this can help to prevent future botnet attacks.
More information on botnets and tips for cyber crime prevention
can be found online at www.fbi.gov.
The FBI will not contact you online and request your
personal information so be wary of fraud schemes that request
this type of information, especially via unsolicited emails.
To report fraudulent activity or financial scams, contact
the nearest FBI office or police department, and file a
complaint online with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.
To date, the following subjects have been charged or
arrested in this operation with computer fraud and abuse
in violation of Title 18 USC 1030, including:
- James C. Brewer of Arlington, Texas, is alleged to
have operated a botnet that infected Chicago area hospitals.
This botnet infected tens of thousands of computers worldwide.
(FBI Chicago);
- Jason Michael Downey of Covington, Kentucky, is charged
with an Information with using botnets to send a high
volume of traffic to intended recipients to cause damage
by impairing the availability of such systems. (FBI Detroit);
and
- Robert Alan Soloway of Seattle, Washington, is alleged
to have used a large botnet network and spammed tens
of millions of unsolicited email messages to advertise
his website from which he offered services and products.
(FBI Seattle)
The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate individuals
that conduct cyber criminal acts.